Addiction

By Author: Henry Ford
Total Articles: 189
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Addiction is not a process that takes place overnight. It is a gradual process that takes place overtime and most people are not aware they are falling into the trap of addiction. Addiction starts with only one puff of cigarette in a friendship cycle, one sip of beer or wine to relax the mind at the end of the day, or one time use of hard drugs like cocaine, heroine or marijuana. The initial feelings that individuals experience as a results are precursor of addiction that comes afterwards (Schaler, 2002). People who become addicted to drugs are gradually introduced and gradually become addicted without being aware of their potential impact (p. 121). What may start as fun or as a way of recreation turns to a monster of life that not only consumes their personality but their social life as well.
From the study, it is evident that majority of people who become addicted to drugs and end up spending a sizable amount of their time in rehabilitation centers are not aware of conscience the addiction process. Most of them have been lured into the trap of addiction by their friends. Although it ultimately depends on personal ...
... choice whether to use drugs or not, there are those who are lucky to realize the impact of using drugs and drop the habit before they fall into addiction (Schaler, 2002). However, there are unlucky others who only realize the impact of drugs when they are already in the cycle of addiction and it becomes potentially difficult to get rid of the habit.
There are various reasons that addicts pointed out for their initial use of drugs. The largest percentage of addict points out the desire to feel good resulting from intense feelings of pleasure as the main reason they were hooked into addiction. The need to feel “high” was followed by a feeling of power, self-confidence, relaxation, and satisfaction, which most addicts are not ready to give up (Raymond, 1999). Others points out to the desire to feel better as a result of social anxiety, stress, or depression. There were others who were hooked because they felt they could do better under influence of drugs while others were led by curiosity and just because others around them were doing it. Regardless of the reason for taking drugs, they all found themselves in a vicious cycle of addiction.
It is evident that the initial decision to take drugs is mostly a personal choice. This means that it is voluntary. Very few individuals are coerced to use drugs for the first time.
Studies show that the trend is mostly influenced by close friends or relatives (Schaler, 2002; Raymond, 1999). For example, a good number of addicts, especially male addicts affirm that they were brought up by parents who were drug addicts as well. As has been documented in other studies, the family environment is determines individual vulnerability to drug use. Earliest interaction within the family is important in risk for drug abuse (NIDA, 2010; (Sarnecki, Traynor & Clune, 2008). Home and family environment increases or a decrease individual’s vulnerability to drug abuse. This trend is observable in individuals suffering from alcoholism. They could have their first sip of beer or wine from their parent’s stock and later perfected the behavior with their peers. However, the largest percentage of addicts evidently shows that they were influenced by their friends, especially in their teenage years, to engage in drugs and later realized that they were in a cycle they could not break (Sarnecki et al., 2008). For most addicts, addiction has been a developmental disease that began in their childhood or their adolescence. There are few individuals who however tried drug addiction to escape from their problems they are facing in life. Economic problems top the list of those factors that are likely to drive individuals to drug addiction. In this case, addicts felt that getting ‘high’ was an instant coffee solution to their economic and social problems but they later found themselves in trap of addiction. In this category of people, individuals who have family problems like conflicting or failed marriage, divorced parents, or those who felt that they were not appreciated in their family shows increased trend towards drug addiction.
Results of the study are also likely to show that those individuals who started using drug early in their life have increased trends towards addiction. This has been documented in research that shows that the earlier the person begins to use drugs, the more the likelihood that they will progress to addiction (Hart & Krauss, 2008). This may be due to the fact that drug addiction interferes with brain functions. In addition, the method of addiction was also shown to be a major precursor for drug addiction. Most of the addicts of hard drugs either smoked or injected the drug into their veins. This is mainly because smoked or injected drugs enters the bring within a few minutes and the intense “high” fades away within few minutes driving the individuals to repeated rug us to recapture the high pleasurable state(Sarnecki et al., 2008).
From the review of literature, scientists have shown from brain imaging studies in drug addicted individuals that there are physical changes that take place in areas of the brain that control judgment, decision making, learning and memory, and control of behaviors (Hart & Krauss, 2008). This implies that drug addiction alters the way the brain works, which can explain the compulsive and destructive behaviors that follows addiction. There is no single factor that determines whether one will become addicted to drugs. Addiction therefore results from aggregate factors that compounds on individual’s life. Vulnerability to drug addiction differs from person to person. There are individuals who are prone to more risk factors like early aggressive behavior, poor social skills, lack of parent supervision, substance abuse, poverty, and others while others have more protective factors that reduce their overall risk of developing addiction like self control, positive relationship, parental monitoring, strong neighborhood attachment, and others (Sarnecki et al., 2008). This is evident from the fact that some addicts were introduced to drugs by their friends who never became addicts despite having the same frequency in taking of drugs. Extensive research in drug addiction has shown that the risk of addiction depends on biological make up of individuals (Hart & Krauss, 2008). Addiction can also be influenced by gender or ethnicity, the developmental stage, the surrounding social environment, and others. However, genetic factors account for 40 to 60 percent of individual’s vulnerability to addiction (NIDA, 2010).
Conclusion
Results of the study have greater impact on counselors in their endeavor to understand drug addiction. Results show increased correlation between drug addiction and social problems, and individuals problems that are likely to be addressed through counseling. The results show that addiction happens due to individuals factors in liaison with social factors. This implies that if counselors are to effectively tackle addiction problem, they must look not only at individual factors but at social factors as well. The results of the study means that counselors have to look beyond the obvious factors point out in literature about addiction. They have to look deeper into the problem at societal level and formulate personal based therapeutic programs that take care of societal factors as well. One of the major limitation of this study was that finding appropriate participants. There were many potential participants who were eventually dropped from the study because of their mental status. However, this did not compromise the validity of the study. Results of the study have far reaching implications on counseling profession dealing with drug addicts compared to the perceive impacts of limitation mentioned above.

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